In a Feb. 23 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Loeb said despite the film’s subject matter, it is not a “conservative,” “religious,” or even a “pro-life” film.
“What we tried to do is really just lay out the facts of how Roe v. Wade came to be and how it was decided. People can take one view or another. I've had a lot of people who think it's in the middle,” he commented to The Hollywood Reporter.
Still, Loeb himself is pro-life and the personal journey of Loeb’s character, Nathanson, is one of powerful pro-life conversion.
“Why some folks may think it's a conservative film or why it aligns with those views is because the protagonist actually converts. He starts off pro-choice and becomes pro-life through his journey. It's a true story,” Loeb commented.
Nathanson personally performed an estimated 5,000 abortions and oversaw tens of thousands more, including one on his own pregnant girlfriend in the 1960s.
Nathanson was previously a strong proponent of legalized abortion, and has been accused of inflating statistics on illegal abortions in the U.S. In 1969, he helped to found the lobbying organization now known as NARAL Pro-Choice America.
He left the practice of abortion in the early 1970s, and became a Christian and a pro-life activist until his death in 2011.
Loeb said he experienced an evolution of his own views on abortion similar to that of Nathanson. As a young man, he was pro-choice; in his 20s, he had two partners who obtained abortions.
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“[I]t really had an emotional impact on me. As I've gotten older, the more regret I have. If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have had them,” he commented.
“Learning more about the science behind it and when a human being is actually created, I slowly started to change my views. I went on the same journey as Bernard [Nathanson] and that's why I was really interested in playing this role.”
Several of the film’s other stars are also known to be pro-life, such as Jon Voight, who stars as Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger.